What can you do if you think you’ve got rats?

If rats are causing trouble on your property, here’s what you can do: 

• Contact your local council’s environmental health team. They’ll give you advice and might offer pest control services. 
• Think about hiring a professional pest control company.  They're experts in dealing with rats and can help you sort things quickly.

Anglian Water doesn’t offer pest control services, but we’re happy to come out to take a look at the sewer pipes and check the sewer is working properly. 

What’s Anglian Water responsible for? 

It’s our job to make sure the sewer network is in good condition. That means: 

• Checking the pipes to see if there are any cracks, holes, or damage that could let rats escape.
• Fixing any problems we find to keep the system secure.

What happens if there’s no damage? 

If our survey shows the sewer is in good shape, and is working as it should, there’s nothing more we can do. At this point, it’s time to contact your local council’s environmental health team or look into other ways to get rid of rats near your home (see more below). 

Things you can do to try and prevent rats near your home: 

• If you feed garden birds, use a bird table or feeder basket to keep food off the ground.
• Make sure to just bin leftover food and use sink strainers to keep food scraps out of drains.
• Make sure drain covers are in good condition.
• Close dustbin lids and cover compost heaps where rats can access them.
• Remove potential nesting sites by keeping gardens tidy, cutting back overgrown areas and clearing any piles of wood/debris.
• Remove any entry points by sealing gaps around pipes and under sheds.  Rats only need a gap of 15mm to gain entry!

The most effective way of dealing with rats is to remove the food source - as long as there's easy access to food, rats will keep coming back.